You Absolutely Sure That's It?
by mkcrl120
Summary: Something might not be as over as people thought.
1. You Absolutely Sure That's It Chapter 1

Fic: You Absolutely Sure That's It..?  
  
Author: mkcrl120  
  
Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.  
  
Summary: This is something that came to me... one of several ideas that thinking about a certain species of Demon has given me. Might be continued, might not... will see how I feel.  
  
Rating: 15 probably… mainly for language.  
  
Setting: End of season 2.  
  
A/N: Again sorry for the crappy title.... not put that much thought into this. Sorry... just something my mind grabbed hold of and wouldn't let go.

* * *

_Fic: You Absolutely Sure That's It..? - Chapter 1_  
  
Buffy cries into Angel's shoulder. "So what are you telling me? That what we did today... that you're going to give all that up? You're giving up humanity, that you'd actually **prefer **to live as a vampire?"  
  
Angel held her as close as he could. He bends to kiss her forehead, savouring the taste, wanting every last memory of his human senses to be filled with her. "No... I'm saying today **won't **have happened."  
  
Buffy pulled her head away from him, looking into his eyes with hers, challenging him to explain what he'd said. "What?"  
  
Angel closed his eyes, dreading what he has to say next. "The Oracles... they're going to take back the day. Send us back to yesterday, make it so that I never absorbed the Mohra blood."  
  
"Who are these Orac..." she began, then realised what he'd said. "Sen.... send us back? Time travel?"  
  
"Kind of."  
  
"I won't lose you now... I won't let it happen... when the Mohra demon comes, I'll smear you in his blood myself." Buffy told him, voice getting more confident as the plan started to form in her brain.  
  
"You won't..." At her defiant expression he continued. "You won't remember... only I will."  
  
"I will remember... I **will**." She raised her hand and placed it on his heart. "I'll remember this. I'll remember your warmth. I'll remember giving myself to you."  
  
"No." He said, allowing tears to fall. "You won't."  
  
She began again, tears falling faster now. "I can't live knowing what we could have had..."  
  
"You don't have to. Only I do."  
  
"But Slayer dreams... maybe I won't know tomorrow... yesterday... whenever... but someday I might know." She looked at him. "I'm a Slayer, Angel. Defying the norm is what we do. If I ever know about today, I'll **hate **you Angel... that you took this away from me... I've never been this happy, I didn't even know I could be this happy."  
  
He grabbed her hands. "That's a risk I've got to take. My happiness is not worth the risk."  
  
"The curse doesn't app..."  
  
He quickly cut her off. "I'm not talking about that. My happiness is not worth risking your life."  
  
"I'm a Slayer, my life's always at risk."  
  
"Then my happiness is not worth the lives of others, others I could save if I'm back to what I was."  
  
"So you'd give up the chance of us... for some people you don't even **know **yet?" She stared into his eyes, hoping praying for the slightest doubt to catch upon. Something she could wear down further, to make him persuade the Oracles not to go through with this insanity.  
  
"You did it... when you went down into the Master's Cave, you were willing to give up your life so that your friends had a chance to live."  
  
"That was different... I didn't have a choice. I was prophecised to die."  
  
"I know... but we're champions. We don't get to live happy ever after... we fight so others do."  
  
She cried, walking away from him. Moving to the bed, she curled up hugging herself.  
  
"Buffy... Buffy."  
  
"Go away..." Came her muffled response.  
  
"Buffy. Never doubt my love for you." He moved to sit next to her on the bed, hand gently stroking her arm.  
  
"That's what you really think?" She asked without looking at him.  
  
"That I love you... always. Without a doubt, for the rest of my existence.... whether my hearts beating or not."  
  
She lifted her head to look at him. "Not that... you think that we fight for other people's happy ever after..? That we don't get one of our own..?"  
  
He took a deep breath, "Yes." was all he said.  
  
"**I **fight for the chance of a happy ever after. That I might live long enough to get one. That my friends might get one when I'm gone." Her voice raising in anger.  
  
"That's a luxury you have..." He explained, rising from his place next to her. "I'm not living remember... well not usually." He added with a grin.  
  
She couldn't quite bring herself to return it. "No wonder you're so broody."  
  
He laughed. "I **only **fight for the chance for others to get a happy ever after. I never ever expected to get **this **happy."  
  
"Not too happy I hope... wouldn't want you to lose your soul when you return."  
  
His smile fell. "I really don't think that's a risk."  
  
She wiped the tears away. "Soo..." she began trying to see the silver lining. "If you'd don't believe in a happy ever after, least for yourself... how about a happy ever now... until we have to go and get the oracles to send us back anyway."  
  
He looked at her with a sad smile. "That's not how it works. They're going to reset everything soon."  
  
Buffy leapt off the bed, "What? When?"  
  
"Anytime now."  
  
"But that's... we need more..." She leapt across the room, catching his face as she pulls him into a passionate kiss. Just as everything around them fades to white.

* * *

_Angel Investigations  
The Previous Day_  
  
For a brief few moments Angel looks lost. Glancing around the room his eyes finally focus on Buffy, who is still talking.  
  
"So, then let's just stick to the plan. Keep our distance until a lot of time has passed, and given enough time... we should be able to.."  
  
"Forget." Angel responds automatically.  
  
"Yeah..." Buffy thinks it over. "Sooo... I'm going to go... start forgetting."  
  
Suddenly the Mohra demon comes flying through the window. Swinging it's sword as it lands on the table. Angel's moving toward it automatically, grabbing the clock as he moves to smash the jewel.  
  
Buffy's quick to respond herself. Moving forward she grabs the sword by the handle as the demon tries to raise it from his missed swing. The demon tries to pull the sword up, but Buffy changed her grip and is holding the sword handle in one hand and the demon's wrist in the other, a powerful tug drags the demon off the table.  
  
Angel swings the clock but the demon is dragged out from it's previous position. The clock shatters against the demon's kneecap, as Buffy throws it towards the opposite wall.  
  
Buffy struggles with the sword and the demon, neither her nor the demon getting an obvious advantage. "A clock..?" She asks incredulously, "You have an entire arsenal and you grab a **clock**?"  
  
Angel looks sheepishly at her. He moves to grab a nearby axe and watches as Buffy manages to thrust the sword through the door to his office, thereby removing it as a threat.  
  
Angel pauses, deciding not to simply hack at the creature from this angle. He puts the long handle around the demon's neck and drags it backward away from it's sword.  
  
"Don't wrestle with it. Cut it's head off!" Buffy orders as she pulls the sword back through the door, holding it firmly and heading in the demon's direction.  
  
"Wait!!" Angel calls out to stop Buffy's swing. Unfortunately to ensure she didn't connect with the sword it involved putting his hand out, the demon immediately took advantage of the freedom to move and ramming Angel backwards into the wall.  
  
Buffy paused in mid-swing. "What for..?" she asked, as the demon threw Angel over it's shoulder and raised the axe into a more usable position.  
  
Angel rolled to a stop by the office door. Which was promptly opened by Cordelia and Doyle, having been concerned after the shouting had reached a point where swords were thrust through the walls.  
  
"Have you killed it yet?" Cordelia asked as she entered the room.  
  
Doyle grabbed her and dragged her to wall protecting her with his own body, "Obviously not."  
  
The demon swung the axe at Buffy, she blocked it with the demon's own sword and attempted a thrust of it's own. "**He **won't let me!"  
  
Cordelia turned to glare at Angel on the floor. "And why would you want to stop her killing it? Have you gone completely insane?"  
  
Angel struggled to get to his feet. "Beheading doesn't work, you have to smash the jewel." He informed the group, eyes scanning the room looking for a weapon of his own.  
  
Buffy glanced at the demon's forehead. "Jewel. Right." She said, pressing her attack, the sword and axe clattering against each other as each combatant struggled to get an opening.  
  
Angel moved behind the desk to locate a spare sword he knew he kept there.  
  
Buffy managed to get through the creature's swing. Unfortunately all she managed to do was get a non-fatal swipe across it's torso, her sword becoming embedded in the desk. Realising she was weaponless, she released the sword and quickly got both hands on the axe.  
  
Angel moved behind her. "Get out of the way!" He ordered.  
  
"And let go... are you nuts???" She asked as Mohra demon tried to shake her off the axe. She pushed back, knocking the demon into its sword, which dropped to the floor. She tried to press the advantage, pushing it against the wall again. Realising what she had to do, she lifted the axe until the it was level with the creature's forehead, and it's jewel. Smiling she started to push again, until the axe handle was resting against the jewel, the demon's head backed against the wall, offering it no leverage to push back.  
  
"Duck." Angel commanded. Buffy did so. Angel's sword flashed, catching the axe on the handle between both Buffy's and the Mohra's hands. The axe handle cracked the jewel. Angel grabbed Buffy by her shirt and walked them both away from the demon.  
  
Which dropped the axe and lifted it's hands to the jewel, seemingly trying to stop the light that was bursting out of it. The demon disappeared, consumed as the light had gotten brighter.  
  
"So, Jewel huh?" Buffy asked, once her eyes had stopped blinking.  
  
"I've faced one of those before." Angel said.  
  
"Right..." Buffy shrugged heading to the fallen weaponry. Angel quickly circled round her, grabbing the sword with the demon blood on it.  
  
"I'll take that." He said, carefully holding it by the handle.  
  
"Ermmm... sure." Buffy said, moving to pick up the axe. She looked around the room, unsure where to put it, giving in she finally gave it to Doyle. "So is that everything?" She asked, following Angel out of the room.  
  
"I think we covered all we need to." He said offhandly, while rinsing the sword in the sink.  
  
"So that's it..?" She asked one last time.  
  
"That's it." He confirmed, then watched as she turned and left the building. He waited til she was out of site then headed downstairs to his bedroom.  
  
Doyle sighed. "So that's Buffy?" He asked once Angel was out of earshot.  
  
"Yep." Cordelia responded. "That's the Slayer... source of all his broodiness."  
  
"I take it he's going to hell to live with now then?" Doyle said, moving to place the axe back onto the rack.  
  
"Trust me... anything you've seen so far, going to surpass all of that put together."  
  
Doyle walked back into the room, gesturing to the broken window and damaged door. "This **typical **of a Buffy visit?"  
  
"This..?" Cordelia looked around the room, mulling it over. "This is calm for her..." She gestured sitting back on the edge of the desk. "In fact I think we got off lightly... thinks being the Slayer means she has to slay everything she sees." She stood up looking at her jeans. "Ewww."  
  
"What is it princess?" Doyle asked rushing over.  
  
Cordelia placed her hand on her thigh. "Ewwwww... he's so lucky he's brooding right now."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I sat in some blood... it's a good job these things are dark." She thought trying to see if it was noticeable. "Can you see it?"  
  
Doyle took a lingering gaze at the back of her legs. "No." he answered, shaking his head out of the thoughts he'd been having.  
  
Cordelia went to get some tissues, and started mopping up the remaining fluid. "And look at this," she showed Doyle the giant slash in the desk. "That's hardly helping to portray a professional image is it?" She stated throwing the tissues into the bin.  
  
Doyle peered at it. "It's not really that noticeable."  
  
"Men." Cordelia grabbed the chair and sat him down in it. "It's not noticeable... when they're sitting there...??"  
  
"Okay... we could turn the desk around."  
  
"So the drawers face the clients?" She commented sarcastically.  
  
"We're not getting a new desk cos of one tiny indentation." Doyle informed her.  
  
"That was made by a sword?"  
  
"It's not even two inches thick."  
  
"Arggghhh!!!" Cordelia said as she stormed out of the room. "Let me just get a coffee and let this day finally end."  
  
"We can't leave, what about customers?"  
  
"He's in no state to go hunting demons."  
  
"A spot of violence might be what he needs."  
  
"Trust me... he's got to go through a significant brooding period before we take another case." She countered.  
  
"But they weren't together. It was like fifteen minutes." Doyle argued.  
  
Cordelia grabbed her coat, "Let's go get a nice relaxing cup of coffee, and I'll tell you all about the Angel Buffy situation. Trust me, fleeting glances across a room is like a major break up with these two."  
  
Doyle smiled and closed the office door. Locking it until the got back. "I do know a little about it you know. I was sent here to help him."  
  
Cordelia smiled back. "Knowing about it and living through it are two very different things. As I'm about to explain..."  
  
They both walked away continuing their discussion. Cordelia starting to scratch the palm of her left hand as they got nearer to the coffee house. Deciding she must have a got a splinter or something from the desk she didn't mention anything.

* * *

_End chapter one_

* * *


	2. You Absolutely Sure That's It Chapter 2

Fic: You Absolutely Sure That's It..?  
  
Author: mkcrl120  
  
Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.  
  
Summary: This is something that came to me... one of several ideas that thinking about a certain species of Demon has given me. Might be continued, might not... will see how I feel.  
  
Rating: 15 probably… mainly for language.  
  
Setting: End of season 2.  
  
A/N: Again sorry for the crappy title.... not put that much thought into this. Sorry... just something my mind grabbed hold of and wouldn't let go.

* * *

_Fic: You Absolutely Sure That's It..? - Chapter 2  
  
A Few Weeks Later.  
  
The La Brea Lounge. _

_L.A.  
_  
Cordelia was sitting on a couch away from the dance floor. One of the few places in the club where the music was quiet enough to enable you to talk to other people.  
  
She took in her surroundings, noticing the jealous glares from her friends as the man opposite her ordered two more drinks off one of the waitresses.  
  
_'Cordy. Cordy. Cordy. This could be your ticket back into the lifestyle you deserve.' _Grinning she returned her attention to hmi as he asked a question.  
  
"So you left Sunnydale to become an actress?"  
  
"Yeah." She quickly responded. "I expected it to be easier than this, you know."  
  
"Really?" Wilson responded, raising one eyebrow.  
  
"Yeah, I expected to like sign up with an agency and be auditioning all the time..." Cordelia smiled, his easy-going nature putting her immediately at ease. "Thought I'd be on a soap at least by now... working my way up the ladder so to speak. Able to choose whch commercials **I **could turn down."  
  
He smiled at her enthusiasm. "Guess in life, anything worthwhile is worth waiting for."  
  
"I've got a friend who thinks like that." She responded taking her drink off the waitress which arrived. "Well except about the life part." She muttered under her breath.  
  
Wilson took his own drink and left a note on the metal tray the waitress carried. Waving off the waitresses attempts to give him change, he commented. "Personally I'm amazed they aren't waiting in line to eat you up."  
  
She smiled at his obvious attempts at impressing her. "Well... something like that almost happened when I first moved her."  
  
"It fell through?" Wilson asked, intrigued.  
  
"Let's just say it wasn't what I thought it would be."  
  
"That's the problem with this town." Leaning in closer he whispered conspiratorially, "You've got to be very aware of who you're dealing with."  
  
"Yeah. This guy was a complete... shark."  
  
"Now those guys you have to look out for." Wilson grinned back. "Pity you're not into modelling. **Then **I could get you some contacts."  
  
"But if I was into the same stuff you were... I'd be very wary of whether **you **were a shark."  
  
"What can I say... I try not to mix business with pleasure... unlike your friend Sarina over there."  
  
"She's okay, she's just..."  
  
"Ambitious?"  
  
Cordelia smiled genuinely back at him. "Yeah... that's it. Ambitious."  
  
"So in a non-business linked proposal..." He paused trying to gauge her reaction.  
  
"Yes..?" She urged him to continue.  
  
"How exactly is your portfolio..? Because if you want me to cast a professional eye over it..." He gestured openly.  
  
"My Portfolio?" She paused to think about it, taking a quick sip of her drink. "And you're certain this isn't some weak come on to get me to pose for your camera?"  
  
Holding his hands up to show they were empty, Wilson asked. "Do you see a camera hidden on my person... you can frisk me if you'd like."  
  
Laughing at his look of innocence, she shyly added. "My portfolio's back at my apartment."  
  
"I asked how it was, not **where **it was."  
  
"For you to see how it is, we have to go to where it is."  
  
Looking her in the eyes, he answered seriously. "I don't have a problem with that."  
  
Examining his look, she slowly turned her gaze away from his eyes. Placing her hand on his, she returned to meet his gaze again. "Neither do I."

* * *

_An Hour Later._  
  
Cordelia and Wilson are in the corridor outside Cordelia's apartment. She takes her keys out of her purse and unlocks the door.  
  
"So... this is me." She informs him.  
  
"I'd hope so... I think trespassing a bit much for a first date." He responded.  
  
Laughing, she turned to open the door, opening it she steps inside. "Thanks for tonight... you know the club and getting us all in and so on."  
  
"It was my pleasure..." He smiles leaning in for a goodbye kiss.  
  
Cordelia gratefully responded, smiling as she noticed he'd had to step across the threshold in order to do so.  
  
"So..." He began stepping back into the corridor. Casually leaning on her doorframe. "I'll call you?"  
  
"You don't have to." Cordelia quickly responded.  
  
"You don't want me to call you?" He asked, confusion evident on his face.  
  
"I meant..." She paused, taking a deep breath. "It's still early..." She catches him glancing at his watch, "and you did say you would take a look at my portfolio."  
  
"That I did... and I definitely don't want to be the type of person who welches on a promise to a lady." He answered, stepping into her aparment, closing the door behind him as he did so. "My professional servi... opinion... I think I can offer that."  
  
Cordelia gestures towards the sofa with her arm. "Please sit... while I fetch... would you like a drink?" She offered, as he moved to the sofa.  
  
"Some coffee thanks... think I need to keep myself up at this **early **hour." He says picking up a magazine from the table.  
  
"Sure... right. Coffee." She says as she disappears into the kitchen.  
  
Returning a few moments later with two cups, placing his in front of him on the table. "So... it's been a while..." She commented, "I meant dating-wise.. cos I've nev..." Pausing, she took a few seconds to compose herself. "Okay. So..?"  
  
"So..?" He asked, watching as she sat next to him on the sofa.  
  
"So what do we do..? Normally... I mean, you're my first... guest. You're my first guest that I've had over since I moved here."  
  
"It is a nice place."  
  
"Far better than where I was living."  
  
"Anything I should know?" Wilson asked.  
  
"About..?" Cordelia looked shocked, mentally cursing herself for her earlier slip-up.  
  
Wilson lifted the magazine he'd been reading. It was a dog-eared copy of Maxim, showing Jennifer Love Hewitt on the cover, advertising the sequel to her popular 'I Know...' film. Cordelia quickly snatched it off him, and threw it behind the sofa. "That's my room-mate's."  
  
"Male..?" Wilson asked.  
  
"Name's Dennis, he's never he..." Cordelia responded, about to go into further detail when they both heard the sound of one of the bedroom doors slamming loudly.  
  
"It sounds like he's here." Wilson commented.  
  
"Just give me a minute." Cordelia said, as she got up and went into the opposite room. Wilson listened to Cordelia's voice in the other room. Never hearing a response, he quietly responded to himself. "Poor guy... she's really giving it to him."  
  
Cordelia walked back in, smiling as she returned to her place next to him.  
  
"So... he the jealous type..?" Wilson carefully asked.  
  
"Dennis... not really. I wouldn't know... you're the first person I've brought back really." Cordelia thought aloud, "Normally I don't see him much."  
  
"Ahhh..." Wilson asked. He was about to ask if it was okay for him to be there, when the Hi-Fi came to life.  
  
Cordelia quickly got up and turned it off. "It's faulty... it does that sometimes... power surges or so I've heard."  
  
She'd almost returned to her seat when it turned on again. She walked over to the socket and pulled the plug out of the wall.  
  
Returning to her seat, she glared at the Hi-Fi for a few seconds before returning her attention to Wilson. "So where were we?" She asks.  
  
"About here." Wilson said, moving in for the kiss. Which Cordelia gladly returned, placing her hands on his shirt she gently guided him away from the sofa.

* * *

_The Next Morning._  
  
Cordelia fidgeted in her bed. Her arm stretching out to the opposite side.  
  
Not touching anything, she started to feel around patting each place as her hand landed.  
  
Reluctantly opening her eyes she started to focus on the room around her. "Wilson..?"  
  
The bed was definitely empty, the rest of the room showed no sign of him having been there. Her own clothes were scattered on various pieces of furniture, but there was no sign that any male had spent the night.  
  
"Did I imagine it..?" She muttered confused, trying to roll onto her back.  
  
"Feel really groggy today... hope I've got some time to sleep in." She muttered, turning to face the clock after finally getting herself into a sitting position.  
  
Lifting the clock for a closer look, she realised it was approaching eleven am. "Dammit... late for work as well... good job my boss is a vampire." She placed the clock down, hoping that a late night demon fighting might mean the others hadn't got into the office yet.  
  
Throwing the covers off, she noticed the size of her belly. "So... definitely didn't imagine last night then."  
  
She tried to sit up. But it was exhausting. Realising she had no other choice she quickly shouted. "Dennis!!!! Get me the phone!!!"

* * *

_Almost An Hour Later.  
Inside Cordelia's Apartment Building._  
  
Wesley turned to Angel. "Did she say what was up?"  
  
Angel thought about it, "She told me she was sick and wasn't coming in to work today."  
  
Wesley looked confused, "So she doesn't come in today as she's sick... we could have coped without h... **you **could have coped witho... in a normal job, people are allowed sick days you know." Wesley finally informed him.  
  
"Yeah... I was thinking the same thing. But once she'd told me she was sick, she then told me to get over there asap."  
  
"Oh right..." Wesley thought as they continued their climb up the stairs.  
  
"I hope she's okay." Angel added. "Took you long enough to pick me up."  
  
Wesley looked hurt, "You could have come here yourself you know."  
  
"I thought you driving would have been quicker than traipsing through the sewers."  
  
Angel moved away from the staircase and led Wesley down a corridor towards Cordelia's apartment.  
  
"I'm sure it would have been quicker for you to run up the stairs and for me to cross the foyer and use the lift." Wesley added, slightly out of breath from the climb.  
  
"Exercise is good for you." Angel informed him, before knocking on the door in front.  
  
"Says the man who doesn't need to breathe." Wesley replied collapsing against the wall opposite Cordelia's apartment.  
  
"Cordy!!!" Angel shouted, "It's me... Let me in."  
  
Angel paused as if listening to something. Wesley couldn't help himself. "Well is she in? Break it down."  
  
"She told us to wait."  
  
"She's coming..? I didn't hear anything."  
  
"Vampire remember? She's still telling us to wait."  
  
"What's taking so lon..." Wesley began but stopped as the door opened in front of them to reveal... no-one.  
  
"Cordy?" Angel shouted entering the apartment.  
  
"The door..?" Wesley said following him in, as the door shut behind them.  
  
Suddenly the door to Cordelia's room opened and Angel immediately headed towards her. "Thanks, Dennis." He commented as he entered.  
  
"Dennis..?" Wesley queried following him in.  
  
To see a heavily pregnant Cordelia sitting on her bed crying.  
  
"Help..?" She quietly asked them.

* * *

_End of chapter two_

* * *


	3. You Absolutely Sure That's It Chapter 3

Fic: You Absolutely Sure That's It..?  
  
Author: mkcrl120  
  
Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.  
  
Summary: This is something that came to me... one of several ideas that thinking about a certain species of Demon has given me. Might be continued, might not... will see how I feel.  
  
Rating: 15 probably… mainly for language.  
  
Setting: Season 1 of Angel - hopefully you'll recognise some of the episodes.

A/N: Again sorry for the crappy title.... not put that much thought into this. Sorry... just something my mind grabbed hold of and wouldn't let go.

* * *

_Fic: You Absolutely Sure That's It..? - Chapter 3_  
  
Angel was sitting on the bed holding a crying Cordelia in her arms.  
  
Wesley unsure whether to intrude carefully approached her via the opposite side of the bed. Slowly putting his hand out towards the bump, he caught himself in time before he made contact.  
  
Sensing a brief respite in her tears, Angel carefuly released his hold on her and asked her the question that'd been on both of their minds. "Cordy... what happened?"  
  
Cordelia lowered her head, unable to meet his gaze. "I'm being punished."  
  
Angel put his hands to her face, cradling her head gently as he tilted her to look up at him. "You're not being punished."  
  
"I am." She cried looking into his eyes. "I had sex and now I'm being punished. Just like you were."  
  
Angel paused unsure how to respond to that. "Cordy... having sex ended my curse... it wasn't my punishment... this," He gestured towards himself. "Having a soul... **this **is my punishment."  
  
"Oh." She quietly responded. "So it's just me that's being punished for sex then."  
  
"Cordelia." Wesley began from her other side. "This is obviously not a normal pregnancy... someone or something did this to you. If you'd become pregnant due to a one night stand, then you'd have options... and it **still **wouldn't have been a punishment... it would have been..." Wesley trailed off thinking along different lines.  
  
Cordelia looked at him hopefully.  
  
Angel continued where Wesley had left off. "Unfortunate... and the worse you could think is that you'd be careless... you **aren't **being punished."  
  
"Optio..." Wesley muttered from where he'd started pacing.  
  
"What?" Cordelia turned to face him. "I don't seem to have that many." She informed him angrily.  
  
"Exactly." He paused waiting for it to sink in. The look she was returning persuaded him to continue, "If this had been a normal pregnancy or even a mystical pregnancy designed to **look **like a normal pregnancy, then there's the risk of someone choosing a termination." He stopped pacing to sit on the bed looking into her eyes. "You became this pregnant overnight so that it isn't a choice, no doctor would ever abort a woman this heavily pregnant."  
  
"Leaving me with no choice but to go through with it." Cordelia finished for him.  
  
"Leaving other people with no choice," Angel corrected her. "**We're **pretty familiar with weird goings on. We're going to find out what happened to you and how we can stop it."  
  
"The man you were... **with **last night." Wesley began. "Any distinguishing features... anything that might of triggered he may not be human."  
  
Cordelia shook her head.  
  
"And he was the only one here..?" Wesley asked.  
  
"Just what are you insinuating?" Cordelia snapped at him. "I'll have you kn..."  
  
"Not that..." Wesley quickly corrected his error. "But you've got a ghost sharing your apartment... could he have brought something with him... something you weren't aware of?"  
  
"I suppose." Cordelia looked to Angel for confirmation.  
  
"I can only smell one other person." He informed them. "I'd have to meet them to confirm it's them, but..."  
  
"Wilson Christopher..." Cordelia began. "Some sort of photographer... mainly models, adverts for magazines that sort of thing."  
  
"Okay, I find Wilson." Angel began. "Then I ask some questions."  
  
Cordelia reached into her handbag, pulling out a business card she handed it to Angel. Who quickly moved into the other room to try the number.  
  
"This ghost..." Wesley began.  
  
"Dennis."  
  
"Yes, quite. So did Dennis pick up on anything else in the room?"  
  
"He was acting quite strange." Cordelia admitted. "At first I just thought he was jealous."  
  
"But he could have been sensing something that you couldn't... either about this Wilson or about something that accompanied him."  
  
"I guess."  
  
Angel came back into the room. "Both his cell and his office line have been disconnected."  
  
"Oh God... he lied about who he was... what if he's not successful..? What if I fell for the oldest trick in the book..?"  
  
Angel came over to her. "We're going to deal with this... got me? I called Kate and asked her to run the name. As soon as we get a lead, we'll find him and make him tell us what happened."  
  
Angel nodded his head to Wesley, gesturing they should talk outside. "We'll be in the other room. Dennis will be with you and he'll get us should you need anything."  
  
Cordelia watched them leave and then lay back on her pillow. The quilt being pulled snugly around her, she relaxed into the gentle touch of her room-mate as he stroked her head.

* * *

"What is it?" Wesley asked, as Angel put down the phone.  
  
"Kate found nothing on the guy... no identity, no criminal record, no place of residence, no tax records, nothing." Angel sighed.  
  
Wesley paused to consider this, "So we're thinking... what... that this guy lied about his name, everything."  
  
"I'm wondering if this is a 'guy' at all. It could be some demon who can assume human form."  
  
"Cordelia did say that Dennis seemed jealous when Wilson turned up."  
  
"Jealous... or worried?" Angel thought.  
  
"So if it's not human, what could it be?" Wesley thought aloud, scratching his chin as he mentally went through a list of possibilities.  
  
"Only one way to find out." Angel informed him. "You and Cordelia are going in for a check-up."  
  
"Pardon." Wesley asked, bringing himself out of his inner thoughts.  
  
"We find out what the baby is... we find out what daddy is."  
  
"Ahhh..." Wesley said, understanding dawning. "And where will you be..?"  
  
"I'll be locating Daddy... once you find out what it is, tell me how to kill it."  
  
"Kill it..?" Wesley remarked.  
  
"Well... how I can threaten to kill it anyway. Cos until it tells me how to cure Cordy... let's just say I learned a lot about torture from my demon."

* * *

_La Brea Lounge._  
  
Angel strolled into the club, checking his surroundings in case this is where the demon lived. It's relatively empty. There are a few customers sitting around drinking in small groups.  
  
_'Not smelling aything obvious.' _Angel thought as he approaches the bar. _'Seems everyone in here now is human. Some lingering scents from previous nights might mean other things frequent the place though,' _he figured as he trie analysing the staler smells. _'Vamps. Couple of Vecha demons... standard stuff that hunts humans... nothing that's likely to try impregnating any of them.'_  
  
"Hi." He said as he approached the bar.  
  
"Hi." The bartender responded. "What you fancy?"  
  
Angel raised an eyebrow.  
  
"To drink..? What do you want to drink..?"  
  
"Bit early for me." Angel replied. "But I am looking for someone."  
  
"The girls don't normally start showing up til after ten."  
  
"Not that sort of person." He clarified. "A guy."  
  
"Sorry man... should have guessed. To each their own, eh?" The bartender shrugged, continuing to clean some glasses.  
  
"Wh..." Shaking it off, he continued. "This guy... picked up a friend of mine. I need to find him."  
  
The bartender looked at the note, Angel had passed onto the bar. He gave Angel a look til he took it back.  
  
"Sorry..." Angel apologised. "Bet you get that a lot, eh?" Pulling out his wallet, he showed the bartender his business card.  
  
"Detective eh..? What happened..? Some girl get picked up by one of the arrogant assholes in this place... jealous boyfriend pay you to find out who..?" Taking in Angel's build, he added. "Maybe, make sure he doesn't go sniffing around her again..?"  
  
"Something like that." Angel grinned a feral smile. Handing another business card over, this time with Wilson's details on it. "This is the guy I'm looking for."  
  
The bartender shrugged, "Sure no skin off my nose... but it looks like you've got all the details here."  
  
"None of it seems true."  
  
"No shit... so Wilson's a fake eh..?"  
  
"You know him?" Angel asked returning both cards to his wallet.  
  
"Been coming round here for the last few months... semi-regular like. Probably once maybe twice a month max."  
  
Angel thought back to the Burrower he'd discovered when he first met Kate._ 'Spreading it around... making the pregnancies harder to track. Dammit, this one's smart.'_  
  
"Any idea where he's likely to go next..?" Angel asked, realising it was probably hopeless.  
  
"Anywhere popular man... tell you, the guys have the money and the girls choose where to spend it."  
  
_'So it all depends on which girl he sets his sight on next.'_  
  
"The group he was with last night... all the girls follow Sarina... she's the leader of that little tribe... she picks where's cool. "Sarina... right." Angel thought back, picturing the girls who'd picked Cordy up from the office.  
  
"Yeah... I think Sarina knows him from somewhere... she's been around with him before."  
  
"Right... thanks." Angel replied, rapidly leaving the bar. _'If Sarina knows him, maybe she's in on it... setting him up with potential breeding stock.'_

* * *

_Pershing Square Hospital.  
Waiting Room._  
  
Cordelia was sitting in the waiting room, watching Wesley trying to persuade the nurse there that they needed to see someone urgently.  
  
She suddenly got distracted by a question from the woman next to her. "You having a boy or a girl.?"  
  
"What..?" Cordelia snapped, heading turning to meet this woman's gaze.  
  
"Boy or Girl?" She asked, nodding her head in the direction of Cordelia's stomach.  
  
"We don't know."  
  
The woman nodded understandingly, "Ahh... chose not to find out eh... don't blame you. We didn't want to know for our first either. Turned out to be a girl... three years old now." She rubbed her own stomach gently, "This one's gonna be a boy... We're thinking of naming him Peter. You decided on a name yet?"  
  
"Haven't exactly talked it through, no."  
  
"When are you due?"  
  
"Could be any moment now." Cordelia responded through gritted teeth. _'Come on Wes... get us in. Offer them money, anything.'_  
  
"First time mother?" The woman asked, seeing Cordelia's eyes staring into the back of the man that arrived with her, she continued on. "Thought so... I can tell. Pregnancy isn't the end of it you know... sometimes you'll think they're little monsters but other times... you completely recognise the bundle of joy you took home with you."  
  
"Monsters..?" Cordelia whispered quietly, eyes never leaving Wesley and his attempts to gain quicker access.  
  
"It's not his fault deary." The woman said next to her. "You're a little young... I take it, this wasn't exactly planned."  
  
"You could say that..." Watching Wes return to sit next to her, she grabbed him by the collar. "This hurts... when can we go in?"  
  
"It's hurting now..?" Wes asked, unaware of this new situation.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Right..." He said standing up, helping Cordelia to her feet they made the way over to the nurse. "There seems to be even more of an emergency to this than previously known."

* * *

_Inside the Examination Room._  
  
Cordelia's sitting on the chair in the stirrups while the Doctor examines her. Wesley standing next to her deliberately looking at her face, and feeling distinctly uncomfortable.  
  
"So... you're eight months pregnant? Eight and a half...?" The doctor asked, standing up and rejoining them.  
  
"That far..?" Cordelia asked in disbelief. "I can't last another week like this."  
  
Wesley quickly corrected her statement. "It's only recently that she's been affected by it... I can honestly say that for the last few months she's been coping as though nothing was wrong."  
  
"You said you were in pain..?" The doctor asked.  
  
"Lots." Cordelia said.  
  
"It only started this morning." Wesley informed him.  
  
"I'm going to do a scan... have their been any other complications with the pregnancy?"  
  
"None." Wesley answered for her.  
  
The doctor continued to work the ultra sound.  
  
"Hmmm...."  
  
"Hmmm...?" Cordelia leapt on his first comment. "What's a hmmmm translate to in non-medical terms?"  
  
"You didn't mention that you were having twins."  
  
"Twins... two of them?" Cordelia turned towards Wesley for advice.  
  
"Ahh... well..." Wesley began.  
  
"Three... four... five."  
  
"Five... fins.. I mean fivetuplets..?" Cordy screamed shocked.  
  
"Quintuplets." Wesley corrected her.  
  
"It better not have fins either." Cordelia glared back.  
  
"Actually, there are seven seperate heartbeats." The doctor stated.  
  
"Seven..?" Cordelia repeated, trying not to cry.  
  
"I can explain..." Wesley began.  
  
"You can explain how your previous doctor, whose name you won't give, managed to overlook six children?"  
  
"We haven't seen a doctor before... we wanted a completely natural childbirth... no scans, no tests, nothing... we only came today because she was in pain."  
  
"In this day and age such steps are considered standard..." The doctor began, but Wesley quickly cut him off.  
  
"And we have a right not to be part of them if we want... now are you going to criticise our choice of lifestyle, or are you going to tell us why these babies are causing her so much pain."  
  
"I need to take some amniotic fluid... the babies heartbeats seem irregular."  
  
"Irregular?" Wesley asked concerned.  
  
"It's difficult to keep track with seven heartbeats, but they seem to be beating too fast. I'll know more as I take further tests."

* * *

_End chapter 3_

* * *


	4. You Absolutely Sure That's It Chapter 4

Fic: You Absolutely Sure That's It..?  
  
Author: mkcrl120  
  
Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.  
  
Summary: This is something that came to me... one of several ideas that thinking about a certain species of Demon has given me. Might be continued, might not... will see how I feel.  
  
Rating: 15 probably… mainly for language.  
  
Setting: Season 1 of Angel - hopefully you'll recognise some of the episodes.  
  
A/N: Again sorry for the crappy title.... not put that much thought into this. Sorry... just something my mind grabbed hold of and wouldn't let go.

* * *

_Fic: You Absolutely Sure That's It..? - Chapter 4_  
  
The doctor's approaching Cordelia with a syringe in hand. "I need to inform you there is a zero point five percent chance of miscarriage when carrying out the procedure."  
  
Wesley waved it off as irrelevant.  
  
"I thought with your previous beliefs regarding medical affects that you might pref..."  
  
"Just do it." Wesley told him decidedly.  
  
"Preferably four or five hundred times." Cordelia muttered under her breath.  
  
The doctor didn't appear to hear her, though Wesley was giving her a glare.  
  
"Now... I'm just going to take some fluid. You may feel a sharp pinch... it'll all be over in a few seconds. Just count backwards from five and your part will be done." He smiled reassuredly at her, as he inserted the needle.  
  
"Five... four... threeee.... owww.... two.... one.... one... one... ow...." Cordelia continued, grapsing firmly to Wesley's hand.  
  
The doctor hands the syringe to the nurse. Smiling at Cordelia, "It's all done now... wasn't that bad was it?"  
  
"Dr. Wasserman?"  
  
All eyes turned in the direction of the nurse. Who was now holding a smoking syringe. Suddenly it cracked and the nurse jumps back in shock. The doctor moves to check she's okay, but she takes on look at the floor and heads out of the door. The doctor glances at the floor and quickly excused himself.  
  
Wesley moved over. Seeing the smoking remains of the floor where the liquid from the needle was slowly eating its way through he only said two words. "Oh my."  
  
"That's bad, isn't it... that's Watcher for 'crap, we're in trouble now'."  
  
"It's..." He began unsure what to say.  
  
"Is it the..." she gestured towards her stomach. "Did the doctors see demonic babies and freak or something." She swung her legs off the bed, trying to climb down.  
  
Wesley quickly moved to help her. "Take it easy."  
  
"I want to see."  
  
"Cordelia I don't think that's a good idea."  
  
"I don't care what yo.." She pushed passed him, stopping when she saw what had happened to the floor. "What the hell is inside me, Wes?"

* * *

_Martinez Apartments._  
  
Angel walked along the dimly lit corridor, noting all the numbers until he found the one he wanted. Stopping out door numbered fifteen, he knocked loudly on the door.  
  
"Sarina." He pratically shouted. "Sarina."  
  
"Whatever it is, I'm not interested."  
  
"Sarina," he tried in a softer voice. "It's Angel. Cordelia's friend... we need to talk."  
  
He heard the heavy sigh on the other side. "It's open."  
  
He turned the handle, watching the door swing open to see Sarina standing in the dark drinking direcly from a bottle. Sniffing slightly he recognised the scent immediately, Scotch. "Can I come in..?"  
  
"Sure, knock yourself out." Sarina answered dismissively.  
  
"Sarina... I'm not here to hurt you... but whatever Wilson's gotten you involved with, it's hurt Cordelia, Sarina... I just want to speak to him."  
  
"You could hurt me though right..? You could knock me down. Punch me..?" Her voice seemed somehow expectant with each question.  
  
"I'm not going to... I know you may feel like you deserve it... but you were probably manipulated. By Wilson... all I want are Wilson's whereabouts."  
  
"I don't want you to hurt me... not really... just enough to make me miscarry." Sarina told her, turning around. Sporting an identical stomach to Cordelia's.  
  
Angel sniffed the air again, examining it closer now. _'Human again, not the same scent as at Cordelia's apartment though. More than one of them..? Wilson's whole gang..?'_  
  
"I was trying to hurt the baby..." She explained, gesturing to the empty bottle. Then to the other three identically empty bottles on the floor. "I read that pregnant women shouldn't drink right... except that it doesn't seem to be doing anything... I can't even get drunk. They say you shouldn't smoke either... I never have before... I don't suppose you do..?" She asked.  
  
Angel shook his head. "Not normally."  
  
"The baby made me feel weird you know... light hurts my eyes... everything seems too bright. I just want to lie down til it's all over. And I keep getting weird cravings."  
  
"All pregnant women get..."  
  
Sarina interrupted. "I mean weird weird. I'd downed half the first bottle before I realised I was drinking it... then I figured I'd chosen to do it subconsciously you know... to get rid of the baby. But now... my stomach feels empty when it isn't sensing that more alcohol is on the way." Turning to face him. "Is this happening to Cordelia too... is this normal?"  
  
"Nothing about this is normal. Did Wilson do this to you?"  
  
"No... his friend, Jason." She said.  
  
"Can you contact them..?"  
  
"I tried earlier. The phones were disconnected,"  
  
"Have you ever contacted them on those phone numbers... do you know if they were ever in use?"  
  
"I called Wilson on his less than three days ago... he was begging me to set him up with someone. I was with Jason, and Emily was with Nick. They introduced me to him last week. Asked if I could set him up. I never expected anything like this."  
  
"But you expected something."  
  
"I figured at worst they were a couple of fly-by-nighters you know... in town for a month or so tops... intending to have some **fun **while they were here. I didn't see anything wrong with it... and it's not like there wasn't any hope... they wanted girls that had no connections to this town... like there was a silent offering that they may take us with them."  
  
"Take you where?" Angel pressed the point.  
  
"I don't know... maybe I was just being a naive little girl... dreaming of a prince charming. But I generally got the impression that they weren't here for the long run."  
  
"Is there anything about them that stood out... anything at all? Any other weird feelings you had in their prescence..? Like they were lying about what they did, who they were, anything."  
  
"Their money."  
  
"What about it..? Fake..? Foreign..?"  
  
"It kinda smelled." She sighed, thinking he must have thought she was insane, however all she saw was interest in his eyes. Like he was hanging on her every word. "And they seemed kind of concerned about it occasionally... like it could have been forged or stolen or something."  
  
Angel turned, looking around the room, finally locating the phone he headed over to it. "Okay... give me both Jason and Nick's full names and descriptions of all three... I'm going to call a police friend of mine and we'll see if we can find these people."  
  
Hearing no response he turned to see what Sarina was doing. "Sarina..?" He asked cautiously, looking to where she'd bent over. Slowly moving towards her, he repeated the question. "Sarina?"  
  
Suddenly she started to scream uncontrollably.

* * *

_Angel Investigations._  
  
Inside the lift, Cordelia was also screaming. Wesley was trying to hold her steady, as the lift slowly arrived in the area Angel used as an apartment.  
  
"It's going to be all right." Wesley kept repeating as he half-carried Cordelia towards Angel's bed.  
  
"Are you sure?" Cordelia asked looking up at him. Pain evident on her face, her face covered in the remains of her own tears.  
  
"Just rest in here." Wesley instructed as he peeled Angel's covered back, lowering Cordelia to the bed. Once down he started to make his way out of the room.  
  
Cordelia stopped him from going by grabbing his wrist tightly. "What's is it, Wes? What's inside me?" She asked through further tears.  
  
"We don't know..." Wes answered truthfully.  
  
"Will I... Is it... Can I survive this?" She asked, eyes locking onto his trying to work out if he'd lie to her.  
  
"I... need to speak to Angel." Wesley replied. "Tell him what else we'd found."  
  
"I'm afraid, Wes." Cordelia confided. "Really afraid."  
  
"I think we need to..."  
  
"It feels like they're trying to talk to me. I can hear noises they're making."  
  
"Noises?" Wesley asked, concern growing even further than he'd thought possible.  
  
"Can you hear them?" She asked.  
  
"No..." Wesley moved to place his hand on her stomach. "There does seem to be movement there... nothing like I'd imagine a baby's kick to feel like, and your skin feel's unnaturall..."  
  
"Unnaturally what, Wes? My skin feels unnaturally what?" Cordelia asked, rubbing her own hands over her stomach.  
  
"Warm."  
  
"Is it..? She asked. Putting her palm to her stomach. "It doesn't feel any different."  
  
Wesley quickly came across and grasped her hand. "Your hand doesn't feel any warmer than I'd expect it... perhaps marginally so... are you telling me you cannot feel the difference in temperature?"  
  
"No."  
  
"We need to collect all the data we've gathered and cross reference it with demons known to procreate by impregnating human females. We need to know what is happening to you and how to stop it."  
  
"There are seven creatures growing inside me... seven creatures that are unwelcome. Seven creatures that might kill me when they try to get out."  
  
"We will do anything we can. I promise you that..." Wesley said, hoping it wasn't a hollow statement.  
  
Further conversation got distracted as Angel entered the bedroom.  
  
"Did you find Wilson?" Wesley quickly asked.  
  
"No." Angel responded. "I found Sarina and she's in the same shape as Cordy."  
  
"Sarina slept with Wilson too?" Cordelia asked.  
  
Angel wasn't certain as to the meaning behind the question but he answered it anyway, "No, it seems all of Wilson's buddies are in on this whatever it is. So we're looking at at least three or four other women infected... and they're just ones that Sarina knows of... we've got to assume they are probably more."  
  
"Oh, it gets worse..." Wesley informed him. "Cordelia Pre-Natal exam revealed seven heartbeats so with all these women..."  
  
"An army." Angel said decisively. "We're looking at thirty plus offspring here... someone is raising an army." Grabbing the yellow pages from a cabinet, he started flicking through looking for something.  
  
"I'm not raising an army..." Cordelia corrected them. "I'm not involved in raising these... things at all. I didn't even want to be involved in breeding an army."  
  
Wesley looked thoughtful. "We still don't know what they're gonna be an army of. If at all... a lot of species breed in large numbers to ensure survival of the next generation."  
  
"Like with tadpoles?" Cordelia asked hopefully. "I can just drop them in the ocean or wherever and forget this ever happened to me?"  
  
Angel turned to face her. "Have we ever been that lucky?"  
  
"So we're assuming army." Wesley added, reluctantly coming to the same conclusion. Noticing Angel was now focused on one solitary page, he leaned over to take a look. "Gun Clubs..? We can kill it with guns?"  
  
"Sarina mentioned a private gun club called Guns and Cigars." He pointed at it's entry on the page. "I'm going to see if they're there. You continue to work on identifying the species... we've got to ensure that these women survive childbirth."  
  
Angel quickly glanced towards the bed to see how Cordelia had reacted to that previous statement when he noticed she was no longer there. "Cordy." Was all he said before darting out of the room.  
  
By this point she was leaning against the kitchen table and looking quite ill.  
  
"Cordy... you okay?" He asked hesitantly.  
  
"No." Came her mumbled reply.  
  
Wesley noticed she was staring directly into the fridge, walking over to it he looked inside. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "Cordelia I must insist you relax... if you need anything, please simply ask one of us to fetch it."  
  
"Blood."  
  
"Pardon..?" Wesley asked while Angel looked confused, sniffing the air to check what was going on.  
  
"I was lying in bed when suddenly I started to get a craving... there was something in the apartment that I really needed to have... I didn't recognise it so I simply followed it's suggestions and peered in the fridge. My babies are craving blood Angel... they want me to drink blood on their behalf... what the hell are they?"  
  
"Oh god..." Angel muttered.  
  
"Did you drink any?" Wesley asked, examining the packets.  
  
"Of course not." Cordelia replied, tightening the grip her hands had on the table. "But even now... it's calling to me in ways I really don't want to understand."  
  
"It might be necessary to consum..." Wesley started.  
  
"No!"  
  
"Cordelia many pregnant women get cravings... it's the body's way of telling you want it wants to make the children healthy."  
  
"I don't want to make these things healthy Wes... I want them out of me. Bananas and chocolate ice cream are craving food... not a pint or two of o negative."  
  
"Right..." Angel said taking the situation in. "I'm going to the gun club... and I'll take the blood with me." He gathered up the two packets from the fridge. "You order her some food... try to get the cravings back within more normal realms... maybe if blood isn't on offer she'll have to settle for something else."  
  
"I'm fully on board with the removal of tempting blood." Cordelia responded, searching in cupboards for anything to feed her hunger.

* * *

_End chapter 4_

* * *


	5. You Absolutely Sure That's It Chapter 5

Fic: You Absolutely Sure That's It..?  
  
Author: mkcrl120  
  
Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.  
  
Summary: This is something that came to me... one of several ideas that thinking about a certain species of Demon has given me. Might be continued, might not... will see how I feel.  
  
Rating: 15 probably… mainly for language.  
  
Setting: Season 1 of Angel - hopefully you'll recognise some of the episodes.  
  
A/N: Again sorry for the crappy title.... not put that much thought into this. Sorry... just something my mind grabbed hold of and wouldn't let go.

* * *

_Fic: You Absolutely Sure That's It..? - Chapter 5  
  
Guns And Cigars Private Club.  
Shooting Range._  
  
Angel strolled down the range analysing the people in front of him. Waiting til he passed a certain figure. One that smelled of Cordelia's visitor.  
  
Angel waited patiently til the person it front had emptied the clip. As Wilson took his ear protection off, Angel stepped forward, and let Wilson turn around to find their faces inches apart.  
  
"Gah..." Came his automatic response. Angel simply smiled as he watched the guy in front try to compose himself.  
  
"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that... could get accidently shot." He says as he places replaces a new magazine for the spent one. Angel noted how his confidence grew with that simple action.  
  
_'Okay, he was scared. Now he's feeling cocky. Time to bring him down a few pegs.' _Angel paused, deciding that he'd done the silent thing for long enough now. "Cordelia Chase... friend of mine. Was it an accident that happened to her too..? Thought you were firing blanks but turned out not so much."  
  
"This is a private club. Somehow I don't think you're a member."  
  
"Somehow I don't think it's likely that I'd get kicked off the premises."  
  
Angel watched as the gun was raised level with his face. "You're Angel right?" Wilson taunted him, "The boss... Cordelia told me all about you." He waved the gun indicating Angel should start moving towards the exit. "Now we were discussing about your likelihood of getting thrown off the premises."  
  
Angel moved faster than Wilson could react. Snatching the gun out of his hand, he turned Wilson around and grabbed him by the throat. "And I said it wasn't much... now **my **chosen topic of discussion is my friend being heavily pregnant. How about we talk about that for a while..?"  
  
Tossing the gun to one side, Angel throws him against a pillar, holding him the with one hand. "Now... you see you are human... which means you aren't the daddy. So I'm wondering, who is."  
  
"I'm not telling you anything..." Wilson tried defiantly to hit him. Angel causally shoved him back into the pillar, this time knocking the wind out of him. Angel caught him by one hand, refusing to let him slide all the way to the floor.  
  
"Yes you are."  
  
"Hey..." Angel turned to see the other members of the club walking towards him. There were four in total, all athletic looking and all in their late twenties. Angel smiled as he realised they were probably all in on the game.  
  
"Hey. I really want to **talk **to all of you too... so if you'd care to wait your turn."  
  
The largest one swung first, knocking Angel away from Wilson, who continued his descent.  
  
"Or it could be more of a group discussion thing." Angel responded, knocking the largest man out with a quickly thrown left. Moving onto the second, he slammed him into a wall. Just as a pair of fists landed on his shoulder. Turning he elbowed the guy behind him in the face, just as the second guy pushed him away.  
  
Angel stood in the middle of the group. Looking better off than the others. "So... who wants to go next? I can keep this up all day."  
  
"I doubt that." Angel turned into the direction of Wilson's voice, just to hear and feel two gunshots hitting his torso.

* * *

_Angel's Apartment._  
  
Wesley was sitting there comparing the ultra-sound to a variety of demons he'd labelled as potentially responsible for this event. He heard a slight noise and turned to see Cordelia standing next to him. "Don't do that." He complained as he held his hand to his chest.  
  
"That's him, isn't it?" She said, pointing at the engraving in front. "So..." She said, lifting up the ultra-sound. "They take after their father." She added sarcastically.  
  
"I ask you to stay calm... Now that we've identified the species we should be able to stop it coming to full term."  
  
"Can you kill them without killing me?" She asked holding her stomach again.  
  
"I hope so." Wes looked at her concerned. "If they get out... if they survive to become fully grown, they're virtually indestructible. No blade will puncture their skin, fire won't harm them, their bones cannot be broken."  
  
"If you can't save me, can you still stop them?" She asked.  
  
"Possibly when they're newborns... thirty fully grown adults... we'd be slaughtered."  
  
Cordelia sighed, "So selflessly offering to scrifice myself now to be sure there's seven less of them wouldn't be much help."  
  
"Not really no... not with the numbers that remain." Wesley told her.  
  
"Good, cos I really didn't want to go through with it." Cordelia finished, wincing and wrapping her arms around her stomach.  
  
"What is it? Please tell me that it's not coming now."  
  
"The noises are getting louder. And I'm feeling the need to move."  
  
"Move..? As in walk around, exercise..?"  
  
"Move as in I'm in the wrong place."  
  
Wesley continued reading quickly. "It may be that you need to go to a specific birthing place."  
  
"How would I find that..?" Cordelia asked.  
  
"According to this, you should feel the unresistable urge to travel to an unknown location... the women who went never reappeared."  
  
Cordelia sat down, "Not getting any urges here, Wes."  
  
"So we don't know where the demon is taking the other women."  
  
"We also don't know if me going to ths location is a good or bad thing."  
  
"Sarina will be heading there... quick call her, we can make arrangements to meet Angel on the way."  
  
Cordelia went in the other room and grabbed the phone.

* * *

_Guns And Cigars Private Club.  
Shooting Range._  
  
"You mentioned accidents earlier." Angel stated as he got to his feet, ignoring the shocked looks on their faces. "Guns can cause accidents... pissing me off can cause even bigger ones."  
  
Grabbing the gun he proceeded to throw Wilson head first into the pillar. Hitting two others, this time not pulling his punch he knew they wouldn't be getting up. Turning he kick the one reaching for his own gun in the face. Only two remained conscious. Wilson who was still lying on the ground whimpering to himself. And another, whose scent he recognised from Sarina's apartment. This one was leaning against a wall scared. _'Fear I can use that.'_  
  
"So let me guess. You're Jason, right?"  
  
The man in front simply nodded, making no attempts to move.  
  
"So... this demon that you procreate for... what is it?"  
  
"Dunno." Came a very frightened reply. "It may have something to do with some park thing... had us construct a shrine for it."  
  
"You don't know where it is and you helped build it..?" Angel walked over looking menacing. Raising his hands as if to strike Jason like he had the others.  
  
"It was Wilson's idea... this was before he ever mentioned this demon thing. Said he was preparing for something... at the time I didn't pay much attention. Then a month or so later he said he knew this thing... could get us stuff if we helped it. You know... fame, wealth, respect, girls... all we had to do was sleep with a few women sometimes... for it, you know."  
  
"I get it. He called this demon."  
  
"Didn't seem a bad life. You know... money, attractive women... the only statement was that we never see the women again... the ones we... **do **for it."  
  
"Are you trying to seriously make me believe that you never suspected."  
  
"Not at first... but I heard things, man. The girls turning up with the insides ripped out... kinda Alien like you know. The thing wasn't human man... you can't stand up to it."  
  
"Neither am I." Angel informed him, vamping out just before he smacked his head into the wall knocking him instaneously unconscious.  
  
"Wilson..." He said, walking to the man trying to crawl away. Lifting him up into the air by his waist, he slammed Wilson into the wall at head height. Facing him in full vampiric visage, "Tell me about the demon."

* * *

_Angel's Apartment._  
  
Cordelia leapt towards the phone the second it started ringing. "Sarina..?"  
  
"No, it's me."  
  
"Angel."  
  
"What's wrong with Sarina?"  
  
"You mean other than the seven freaks growing in her womb?" Cordelia responded. "We can't contact her... Wesley thinks I'm supposed to be drawn towards some sort of birthing place, but I'm not... I'm still here and I'm getting more pissed off."  
  
"I found Wilson... the demon's at Miliken Industrial Park in Reseda. It's a Hacksaw. I'm betting Sarina and the others are headed there."  
  
Wesley moved in closer to listen as well. Cordelia answered. "How would the others know that..? I don't."  
  
"According to Wilson they're linked to their offspring telepathically via the umbilical cord."  
  
Wesley remembered reading something along similar lines. "And Cordelia..?"  
  
"Don't know."  
  
"So how do we stop it..?" Wesley asked, seeing the look on Cordelia's face.  
  
"The offspring are linked to the Hacksaw, but aren't telepathically strong enough to force the women to do what they want. So the Hacksaw is controlling all of them."  
  
"Of course... so we kill the Hacksaw and..."  
  
"All the baby demons dies as their mothers defences finish them off." Wesley finished for him.  
  
"Sounds good... let's go do that." Cordelia added.  
  
"It's difficult to kill, fire won't do it, neither will any swords we've got available to us... that's why I was hoping we'd have chance before they get fully grown."  
  
"But there's only one of them this time... we can stop one right guys?" Cordelia asked hopefully. "When you... er... Angelus helped build the Judge, Xander came up with this idea involving a rocket launcher. Would one of the work?"  
  
"A rocket launcher?" Wesley asked in shock. Mentally going over the prospect, "Even if would work, where could we get a rocket launcher from?"  
  
There was a pause on the other end. "I've got some ideas." Angel eventualy told them. "I'll meet you at the park."

* * *

_Miliken Industrial Park._  
  
Angel, Cordelia and Wesley stood watching the girls in white robes all entering a vat of yellow-y brown liquid.  
  
"So... what's the plan?" Cordelia asked. Taking in the sheer size of the demon in front of them. "Cos I'd like to teach him a lesson about making inapproriate moves on people."  
  
Angel handed Wesley Wilson's gun. "I take it you're a good shot."  
  
"I'm fair." Wesley answered, staring at the creature in front of them. "The eyes I take it..? Not sure how much damage it could do but..."  
  
"No." Angel smiled, patting the large gas tank he'd brought with him. "I've got a different target for you. Just give me time to get close enough to throw it." He said, dragging it towards the demon.  
  
"Distraction... gotcha." Cordelia answered walking towards the vat the girls were sitting in.  
  
Wesley looked concerned. _'Fire won't kill it... mind you, that was written in the sixteenth century... maybe some modern day explosives might succeed.' _Deciding they had nothing to lose at this point, Wesley nodded his agreement.  
  
"You will wear the ceremonial robe." The demon bellowed from it's place.  
  
"No I won't... in fact, you're going to let these women go or I stab your little babies." Cordelia stated pulling out a knife from her jacket pocket.  
  
"You cannot resist!" the demon shouted.  
  
Cordelia heard the noise from the babies start getting louder. "Well I am... I'm not some sheep. I'm Cordelia Chase and you really don't know who you're messing with."  
  
Sarina turned from her place in the pool. "We are to be sacrificed so that our superiors may live. It is a great honour."  
  
"Not to me..." Cordelia responded. Hand poised over her own stomach, weapon ready. Spotting Angel beginning to take aim, she shouted. "It's getting louder... you guys ready yet?"  
  
"Now!" Angel instructed, throwing the gas tank with all his strength.  
  
Wesley popped out from his position, noting Angel running to shelter and waiting til the tank reached it's total height. Just under shoulderheight on the demon. The second it reached it's apex he started firing. The first shot missed, but the second caused it to explode in the demon's face.  
  
Covering it in liquid nitrogen.  
  
The gang watched as the creature tried to fight against the rapidly freezing element. Only succeeding in turning the upper half of it's body into a ice scuplture of itself. They suddenly became aware of all the women in the vat screaming. Cordelia herself wincing as the creatures inside her became to die.  
  
Wesley quickly moved over to the women, helping each one out of the vat. Noticing as their stomachs shrank to their more usual sizes as they did so.  
  
Angel was holding Cordelia as she began to stand straighter, her own stomach also in it's previous form. "That was something I never want to go through again." She told him as she became steadier on her feet.  
  
"Just the big guy left now..." He said, indicating the half frozen demon towering above them all.  
  
"We could leave it... warning for all those who come to L.A."  
  
"Knowing our luck, it'd thaw out." Angel told her, dragging a pulley over to her. "You were it's target... only right you get to finish it off." He said, as he watched Wesley lead the other women out of the factory.  
  
Cordelia smiled gratefully at him, then swung the pulley towards the Hacksaw demon with all her might. Both watching as the upper half shattered into thousands of pieces. "Next time I'll think I'll listen to Dennis."  
  
Angel feigned being hurt. "I could have told you, you know."  
  
"You said they smelled human." Cordelia corrected him.  
  
"Ahhh... but." He tried.  
  
"But nothing... face it. Dennis may have had the info."  
  
"Or he could have just been jealous." Angel countered.  
  
Cordelia smiled. "I'll ask him when I get back."  
  
Their banter continued as they went outside to join the others.

* * *

_The Next Day.  
Angel Investigations.  
_  
Cordelia, Wesley and Angel are sitting around the office.  
  
"What I don't understand is why the others were under the demon's control and I wasn't." Cordelia asked.  
  
"It's a telepathic link." Angel informed them. "You already sort of have one."  
  
"With the Powers That Be." Wesley expanded.  
  
"So, you're saying that I couldn't be controlled due to being Vision Girl."  
  
"Definitely looks that way... the demon was able to control women, through an umbilical cord, through it's connection with it's offspring. It also used that connection to manipulate your bodies to provide a suitable enviroment for it's children." Wesley suggested.  
  
"So we're thinking that it's telepathic powers were quite impressive... whereas yours, being a normal human, aren't." Angel stated, feeling rather uncomfortable under Cordelia's glare.  
  
Wesley continued, having not noticed the look. "So where the PTB have complete control over what they send you..."  
  
"The demon may have found a way to follow the link back... and they couldn't risk it." Cordelia thought, working out the rest for themselves.  
  
Angel thought about it. "The fact that you didn't have a vision during the whole time you were pregnant."  
  
"Means they weren't going to risk it." Cordelia finished for him.  
  
"But in their favour... either being turned into Vision Girl stopped others from telepathically manipulating you. Or the PTB are willing to put a block so that only they have access." Wesley answered.  
  
"That noise I heard."  
  
"Probably was the demon attempting to beat your defences... but with the PTB block..." Wesley theorised.  
  
"All I got was static." She smiled.  
  
"Annoying but better than being a puppet." Angel stated.  
  
"Yeah."

* * *

_End chapter five_

* * *


End file.
